The Status of Chestnut Cultivation and Utilization in the Canary Islands

Adv. Hort. Sci., 2011 25(2): 90-98

The status of Chestnut cultivation and utilization in the Canary Islands

D. Ríos-Mesa*, S. Pereira-Lorenzo**, A.J.González-Díaz***, J.Z. Hernández-González*, E. González-Díaz****, V. Galán Saúco**** * Centro de Conservación de la Biodiversidad Agrícola de Tenerife (CCBAT), Servicio Técnico de Agricultura y Desarrollo Rural, Cabildo, Insular de Tenerife. ** Escuela Politécnica Superior, Universidad de Santiago de Compostela. *** Servizio de Agricultura, Cabildo Insular de La Palma. **** Instituto Canario de Investigaciones Agrarias (ICIA).

Key words: Castanea sativa, food consumption, timber.

Abstract: Chestnut was introduced to the Canary Islands at the beginning of the 16th century during the time of the Spanish Conquest. It was utilised by the conquerors as a means of claiming property for communal lands. From that time until today, chestnut has been an important crop in the Canary Islands. It is important both as a source of food and timber and has contributed to the subsistence of the population, particularly at times when both resources were scarce. Nowadays it is mainly cultivated on the Islands of Tenerife (around 1300 ha) and La Palma. On other islands, such as Gran Canaria, La Gomera and El Hierro, semi-wild chestnut forests and small plots where farmers collect fruit still exist. Morphological and molecular marker (SSRs) studies have shown a great variability within the local population of chestnut trees in the Canaries. The main use for chestnut is fruit consumption, but it was also utilised in the past as an exchange commodity to obtain fish and other food. The fruit is consumed in many different ways, mainly toasted or roasted, but also cooked in soups, fish or meat dishes and even as an ingredient for the typical Canary Islands’ sweet ‘morcillas’ (a type of sausage). The wood of the tree has been used for furniture, with some shoots being utilised for basket making, and also as cattle food. The trunk of the chestnut has also been used to obtain cork or as a bee hive. Recent efforts to add value to chestnut cultivation in the Canary Islands have included the creation of a Chestnut Farmers Association in Tenerife that commercializes their products under a brand name.

1. Historical background Many ancient trees are still alive on La Palma at present. Two are especially important: one located in According to recent studies, chestnut was first intro- Puntallana with circumference of more than 7 m, and duced to the Canary Islands on El Hierro and Gomera another even larger one with a perimeter of 10 m in the and then on Gran Canaria, La Palma and finally the Municipality of Breña Alta. According to the informa- Island of Tenerife, shortly after the process of conquest tion gathered from the local population, both of them and colonization of the islands. In the case of La Palma, seem to be of the denomination known as “Temprano”, it was most likely introduced around 1493 and quick- one of the few varietal denominations identical to those ly expanded and used both for its fruit and wood (Ríos of Spain’s mainland cultivars, which might be a clear Mesa, 2004). In fact, there is evidence that 5 ‘arrobas’ indication of its early introduction. (a measure of weight, 1 arroba = 11.502 kg) of fruits The great relevance of the chestnut tree on La Palma were sent from La Palma to the island of El Hierro in is reflected in the information given by Bandini (1816) 1546 (Hernández-Martín, 1999), which seems to indi- in 1813, indicating that 46% of the total production of cate the presence of numerous chestnut trees to allow chestnuts in the Canary Islands (CI) came from that for surplus production. By 1590 Frutuoso (2004) had island. Information provided by Von Fritsch (2006) on mentioned the existence of chestnuts in the region of exports of chestnut fruits in 1862 from different areas Puntallana, and there are also many other reports about of La Palma also confirms the importance of this crop the presence of chestnut early after the conquest of the for the island. The role of this tree as part of the land- islands (Hernández-Rodríguez, 1983; Browne, 2005). scape of La Palma was also highlighted in school texts used at the end of the 19th century (de Las Casas Pes- tana, 1894). It is also important to mention that the first Received for publication 8 November 2011. Accepted for publication 28 March 2011. reference to grafting of chestnuts on La Palma was

90 made during the last quarter of the 18th century On Gran Canaria: Galdar, Moya, San Mateo, Telde, (Rodríguez-Benítez, 2004). Teror. There are also historical references to the presence On La Palma: Barlovento, Punta Gorda, Punta of chestnut trees on Tenerife as early as 1517 (Pereira- Llana, San Andres y Sauces, Santa Cruz de la Palma. Lorenzo et al., 2007), soon after the Conquest. Many On Lanzarote: Tinajo. historical chestnut trees reported previously still sur- On La Gomera: Vallehermoso. vive on this island, such as the ‘Castaño de Las Siete There are no updated figures on the economic Pernadas’, in the area of Aguamansa (Fig. 1), La Oro- importance of chestnut cultivation at a regional level at tava county (Mendez Pérez, 2002), which may be present. A thorough sampling done by Pereira-Lorenzo around 500 years old. There is an interesting descrip- et al. (2001) indicated that chestnut could be intro- tion of this tree given by Rodríguez (2001) in which he duced in the Archipelago as a crop with a double use indicates that the trunk had a circumference of more (fruit and wood) following the example of the Spanish than 12 m and that the seven branches of its trunk (siete mainland from where it was introduced. This study also pernadas) had been reduced to five by wind action. revealed the presence of isolated, testimonial chestnut According to Ríos-Mesa (2004) it is possible that this trees on the drier eastern islands of Lanzarote and tree was one of the chestnut trees planted by El Ade- Fuerteventura. lantado (name given to the first Governor of the Chestnut fruit is nowadays almost exclusively com- island), D. Alonso Fernández de Lugo, in the Valley of mercialized in a few areas on Tenerife and La Palma. La Orotava in the first decades of the 16th century. Recent efforts were made to increase the value of Many well known visitors and naturalists, among chestnut in the Canary Islands by the creation of a them Mac-Gregor (2005), Verneau (2003), Von Hum- Chestnut Farmers Association on Tenerife to market all boldt (2005), Du Cane (1993), Glass (1982), Von their products through a brand name. They even dif- Fritsch (2006) and Berthelot (2005), mentioned the ferentiate chestnuts harvested in the south one month presence of chestnut forests as part of the natural land- earlier than those in the north due to microclimate dif- scape of Tenerife in their Canary Island trip reports ferences, and which usually obtain the highest prices of during 18th and 19th centuries. the year. Elorrieta (1949) indicated the presence of chestnut on all the western islands of the Canaries but he did not report it as a crop. A recent detailed study carried out in 2006 and 2007 by Hernández et al. (2010) localised chestnut trees in 28 counties on the Island of Tenerife, 23 of them with chestnut orchards. According to this study, the cultivated area of chestnut on Tenerife is 1374 ha, with the biggest cultivated area (280 ha) located in La Orotava County. In addition 2,567 isolated trees were also found on the island of Tenerife. Chest- nut trees on Tenerife are found between 400 and 1,800 m altitude in the southern part of the island (Granadil- la County). Most of the area (647 ha) is located between 400 and 1000 m above sea level, and dimin- ishes progressively after this altitude. Only some isolated chestnut trees can be found below 400 m above sea level in the northern county of La Laguna. Chestnut distribution is different in north and south portions of Tenerife. The higher rainfall and humidity Fig. 1 - Ancient chestnut tree with 7 main branches named castaño del on the north slopes due to trade winds, in contrast with las 7 pernada. a lack of the beneficial influence of them on the south side, explains why chestnut cultivation has been developed at higher altitudes in this latter area than on the 2. Economic importance, cultivated area and geo- north side (Ríos-Mesa, 2004; Hernández et al., 2010). graphical distribution In northern Tenerife the area covered by chestnut totals 1,121.72 ha (81.6% of total) and increases con- Chestnut seems to have been an important crop in stantly from 400 m to 1,000 m above sea level, with a the middle of the 19th century according to the great minimum area between 1,000 and 1,200 m. Chestnut number of localities in the Canary Islands producing orchards are located mainly in the Orotava Valley and chestnuts by 1852 (De Leon y Falcón, 2005). Tacoronte-Acentejo County. Most of the 112 ha culti- On Tenerife: Arafo, Candelaria, La Matanza, La vated in the south are located in the Guimar Valley, Orotava, El Rosario, Santa Ursula. more favoured by trade winds than other southern

91 counties, between 800 and 1,000 m and only 5.6 ha are Cultivation of chestnut on Gran Canaria was impor- cultivated between 600 and 800 m. Another 118 ha are tant years ago but is now only testimonial with isolated located between 1,000 and 1,400 m altitude, most of plots in the counties of Arucas, Firgas, Valleseco and them also in the Guimar Valley, being a merely testi- Teror (Naranjo-Rodríguez and Escobio-García, 2002). monial presence of chestnuts at higher altitude (Fig. 2). Most chestnut trees on the island of El Hierro are located in the most humid and cooler areas of El Golfo, Tiñor, Asofa and Honduras. Chestnut trees are also found on La Gomera in the higher parts of the valleys of the north where they are cultivated on mountain slopes. Scarce, isolated trees on Lanzarote are found in the area affected by the Timanfaya volcanic eruptions (1730-1736) which may suggest a later introduction on this island and, as in the case of the other dry island of Fuerteventura, a lack of appropriate climatic conditions for chestnut development (Pereira-Lorenzo et al., 2007).

3. Horticultural aspects

Around 1852, De León y Falcón (2005) indicated that chestnuts showed excellent growth on the CI at middle and higher altitudes in soils with a predominant Fig. 2 - Chestnut trees in The south of Tenerife. clay, propagated either by seeds or from shoots emerg- ing from their roots, with grafting seldom being practiced. In the case of Tenerife, chestnuts are located in Three different systems of chestnut cultivation can highly fertile acid soils, in most cases andisoles and be found on Tenerife. There is a first band at lower alti- alfisoles, and cultivated, whenever orography and tudes with low density plantings where chestnuts are planting density allow, together with other crops such associated with mixed plantings of vegetables and as potato, rye, corn or others (Ríos-Mesa, 2004). other fruit trees; a second band with more dense plant- Only around 430 ha (31%) of the total surface cov- ings where the lack of light penetration does not allow ered by chestnut on the island of Tenerife can be con- association with other crops; and the last band occurs at sidered to be under good conditions of cultivation and higher altitudes where chestnuts are largely associated 138 of these, distributed in different counties of the with endemic fayal-brezal (Myrica faya and Erica island, can be considered well managed. About 670 ha arborea) or even Pinus (Pinus canariensis) populations (48.7% of the total), concentrated mostly on the south that, in many instances, constitute a part of the native side, are in a clear state of abandonment (Hernández et forest and cannot be considered cultivated trees (Ríos- al., 2010). Mesa, 2004). In Tenerife, extensive areas previously devoted to Chestnut is more uniformly distributed on the chestnut cultivation have been abandoned in recent Island of La Palma with the maximum concentration years, although in many cases new trees have grown of chestnut trees being on the west side of the Cumbre from seeds among the old grafted trees. These new Nueva area in Santa Cruz de La Palma and Breña Alta plants are called chestnut machos or ladrones (males or counties, where there is more humidity, also in this thieves). The only cultivation practice carried out in case, due to an influence of trade wind; on the north these places consists of possible cleaning of the soil and east sides of the island chestnut is more important surface to facilitate harvesting of early chestnut fruits, at middle altitudes. On the drier south and west sides of perhaps being the only regular horticultural practice the island, chestnut as well as other temperate fruit undertaken for chestnut cultivation in the different cul- crops is less present and located at higher altitudes. As tivated areas of the Islands. in the case of Tenerife, chestnut is associated with the Plant spacing differs greatly from place to place but native vegetation at higher elevations, with laurisilva it is possible to consider three main systems (Ríos- and fayal-brezal in the north and east and pine forest in Mesa, 2004; Hernandez et al., 2010). the west. Frequent fires, the most serious of which 1 - Trees planted at high density (30-50 trees/ha) in occurred in August 2009, have caused the death of places where chestnuts were planted for fruit and that many chestnut trees or, on occasion, destruction of the correspond with the areas now in a state of abandon- grafted portion of the tree and regrowth of the root- ment. stock (Pereira-Lorenzo et al., 2007). 2 - Planted at lower density (15-30 trees/ha) allow-

92 ing intercropping with associated crops. 3 - Chestnut trees (10-15 trees/ha) planted only along the edges of plots used for cultivation of other crops such as potatoes, grapes, corn, cabbage, lupines or other vegetables (Figs. 3 and. 4). All chestnuts are cultivated without irrigation and no fertilisers are applied, but in cases 2 and 3 above they benefit from the fertilisers applied to the main associated crop. Grafting on Tenerife (Fig. 5) was done in a similar way to that on the Spanish mainland, where seedling rootstocks were grafted with two scions placed at 0.5 m height. However peculiarly shaped shrubby chestnuts found in the volcanic south of the island with large pendulous branches touching the soil indicate that this practice was not always carried out. Maintenance pruning is seldom practiced except in the case of planting system 3 indicated above. Even in this case pruning is scarce and rudimentary, mostly limited to the removal of dead wood or wood that

Fig. 5 - Scionwood for grafting.

makes the cultivation of the rest of the plot more diffi- cult. There is, however, an important exception in the case of the trees cultivated on volcanic lapilli soils in the counties of Arafo (Tenerife) and El Paso (La Palma). In both places, grafting is practiced closer to the soil with a training process orientated at keeping branches as close to the soil as possible to facilitate har- Fig. 3 - Chestnut-corn association. vest and to obtain wind protection. Trees are also pro- tected against wind on the Island of El Hierro where a circular wall of rocks, locally called gorona, is built to protect the tree from wind and animals. Chestnuts on the CI are in good phytosanitary condition, with no reports of the serious diseases which usually affect this plant on the Spanish mainland, such as Phytophthora cambivora and Phytophthora cinnamomi. This is most likely due to the isolation of the islands from other chestnut areas and no introduction of new plant material for new plantings. Several arthropods, such as Cydia splendana and Balaninus elephas that attack chestnut fruits in the Archipelago, are being studied (Pereira-Lorenzo et al., 2007).

4. Plant material

Efforts made to localise and identify the plant mate- Fig. 4 - Chestnut-grape Association. rial of chestnuts on the Canary Islands have only

93 recently been made through extensive samplings and Only the plant material from Tenerife and La Palma collecting of material during field visits to interview has been characterised morphologically and phonolog- farmers in the producing areas: on Tenerife this was ically, using the same methodology as for previous carried out between 2000 and 2004; on La Palma studies of the cultivars of Galicia on mainland Spain between 2001 and 2004; on El Hierro in 2001; and on and allowing a comparison among them (Pereira- La Gomera and Gran Canaria in 2003. The main objec- Lorenzo et al., 1996 a, b, c; Pereira-Lorenzo and Fer- tives of these surveys were to finalise the Chestnut Cul- nández-López, 1997 b, c; Pereira-Lorenzo et al., 2006). tivar Spanish Inventory, realise the morphological and Analogous molecular characterizations of plant molecular characterization of CI chestnut plant materi- material from Tenerife and La Palma have also been al, to propose the material to be kept in a germplasm made following the same methodology as for the culti- bank and to define the most interesting cultivars for vars of Galicia, comprising the results obtained from commercial cultivation (Pereira-Lorenzo et al., 2007). 10 microsatellites being utilised in the research Project A total of 47 different varietal nominations, according “Evaluation, analyses and biodiversity management of to the names given by farmers, with one or several Castanea sativa Mill. (European chestnut) in the accessions, were found on the CI (21 on Tenerife, 17 on Atlantic regions (CASTANEAREG)”, INTERREG La Palma, six on Gran Canaria, two on El Hierro and IIIB, ESPACIO ATLANTICO, FEDER, 2004-2006. To one on La Gomera) coinciding on many occasions with further allow comparison among cultivars, the four the same names on different islands like ‘Blanco’ most discriminating morphological characteristics pre- (White) on La Palma and El Hierro, ‘Mollar’ (free- viously studied for the cultivars of Galicia (Pereira- stone) on Tenerife, La Palma, Gran Canaria, Gomera Lorenzo, 1994 and Pereira-Lorenzo et al., 1996 a), and El Hierro, and ‘Negro’ (white), ‘Picudo’ (Pointed), favourably tested later for cultivars of different origin ‘Manso’ (Tame) and ‘Temprano’ (early) on Tenerife (Pereira-Lorenzo et al., 2006 and 2007) and also and La Palma. utilised under the framework of this same project, have Some new plant materials have been found in recent been employed: i) fruit size; ii) fruit shape; iii) type of investigations carried out by the same authors (unpub- male flowering; and iv) length of burr spines. lished data): ‘Piñuda’ (with the shape of a pine-cone), From the results obtained through this molecular ‘Menuda’ (small) and ‘Merina’ (as the sheep race) on characterization, it has been possible to group the 74 Tenerife; ‘Colorado’ (Red) and ‘Arrancado’ (pulled accessions of Tenerife and La Palma into 57 different out) on La Palma; and ‘Chabetudo’ (unknown mean- genotypes. It is worth mentioning that, as in the case of ing) on Gran Canaria. the cultivars of Galicia (Pereira-Lorenzo et al., 1996 b), The 39 accessions found on Tenerife correspond to Andalucia (Pereira-Lorenzo and Ramos-Cabrer, 2003), 21 varietal nominations (Fig. 6), ‘Mulato’ (Mulatto) León (Ramos-Cabrer et al., 2003) and Asturias with seven accessions being the most common. The 34 (Pereira-Lorenzo et al., 2005; 2006), the cultivars from accessions of La Palma correspond to 17 varietal nom- the CI are all polyclones. The few cases in which more inations, ‘Jabudo’ (unknown meaning) with six acces- that one genotype was found under the same name sions being the most common. From all the varietal seem to indicate that more than one clone of a cultivar nominations of these two islands, only ‘Redondo’ might have been propagated. Most of the genotypes (Round) and ‘Temprano’ coincided with names of cul- found were singulars and only 10 groups of coinci- tivars from the Spanish mainland, the former in Galicia dence by microsatellites have been detected. When the and the latter in Andalucía and Extremadura. CI genotypes were compared with those of the Spanish mainland (data unpublished), no synonyms were found. All the cases of varietal denominations with only one accession found in the CI have been found to be of a single genotype different from all the others (Pereira-Lorenzo et al., 2007).

5. Tradition and uses

Chestnuts were traditionally used as an important source of food in times of scarcity and also for wood of important value (Pereira-Lorenzo et al., 2007). Among the different uses of this plant on Tenerife, Ríos-Mesa (2004) specifies the following:

The fruits Larger ones used for fresh food, for family con- Fig. 6 - Fruits of Castagrande cultivar. sumption, exchange or sale, the smaller ones as cattle

94 feed. Chestnut fruits are important for traditional cooking on the islands. They are consumed either boiled or roasted, or even fried in oil alone or accompanying salty fish (a very traditional dish on the islands), in purees or, more recently, in desserts.

The wood Used for house building, furniture, wine presses, staves for wine barrels and for the bottom of boats, it is also used for making boxes to store various local units of weight, cuartillas, and sowing quantities, almudes (Fig. 7). The wood has also served to build small tools such as those used to blow cereals or to fan the grain. Ungrafted trees have been preferred, generally, for wood purposes as they are straighter and present fewer nodes than grafted plants. It should be mentioned that the wood has always been cut when the moon is in “its Fig. 7 - Box for sowing the grain made of chestnut. last quarter”. Despite early introduction of the tree to the CI chestnut wood was not used, at least on Tenerife, for building wine barrels until the middle of the 17th century, as there are reports of imports of wood for that purpose from Galicia and Portugal (Méndez Pérez, 2002). Chestnut suckers were also utilised to make baskets (Fig. 8) of different sizes, such as hand baskets or bigger ones for transporting rocks and even those known as raposas placed on the sides of donkeys to carry various items. Suckers also served to make horquetas, long wood sticks ending in a ‘v’ shape which first served to raise and hold the grapevines away from the soil and later in the 20th century for banana cultivation, both to keep the bunch separated from the pseudostem (small horquetas) or to give support to the whole plant in case of wind (bigger horquetas called horquetones). - The dry leaves have been used as cattle beds and the green ones as cattle food. Fig. 8 - Traditional harvesting basket made with chestnut wood. Ríos-Mesa (2004) indicates that chestnut is closely related to cultural aspects of CI life. Chestnuts are an important element of the gastronomy linked to tejo, in the north of Tenerife, it is customary to use popular celebrations. Special mention should be chestnuts as rosaries to be placed over domestic ani- given to: mals. - the “All the Saints Feast” when the early chestnut Chestnut wood has been used on the island of La fruits are roasted and consumed together with the Palma for wine barrels and also for making receptacles “aguapié” (the first liquid extracted from the grapes to export fruits preserved in syrup, made with the sugar after the men performed the traditional stomping of coming from the sugar cane industry, or to keep salty the grapes). meat. They were also used as support poles for grape - the “Saint Andrews Feast”, when chestnuts are cultivation (Pereira-Lorenzo et al., 2007). Peeled eaten together with the new wine of the year when chestnut wood skin bands were used for building the the cellars are first opened. structure and handles of baskets. Several types of bas- - at Christmas time when chestnuts are considered kets, including bread baskets are also made, like those important Christmas symbols, like the Spanish tur- on Tenerife (Santos-Cabrera, 2002). The wood is also rones (hard almond cakes). It is tradition in some appreciated for smoking cheese, a very traditional and villages to give a small basket full of chestnuts to delicious dish of the gastronomy of this island. The ten- children as a present. der young shoots coming from the main trunks have - during Carnival in some localities in the north of been traditionally used as cattle feed. Tenerife dry chestnuts are also consumed accompa- Unifloral chestnut honey is produced in Tenerife nying wine. and La Palma where sometimes bee hives are made of - for the “Saint Anthony Feast” in the county of Acen- chestnut wood. In the past chestnuts were preserved

95 buried in volcanic lapilli, but it was more common to cooked in small metal boilers placed above charcoal cover them with sand or to dry them in the sun (Pereira- fires on many street corners. In both cases, coarse salt Lorenzo et al., 2007). is added during cooking. It is worth mentioning the historical use of chestnut While roasted chestnuts are directly consumed, trees as a means of claiming property for communal boiled chestnuts may be incorporated into typical dish- lands. It is indicated by Rodríguez-Brito (1982) that the es of the Canary Island gastronomy, such as roasted planting of a chestnut tree in a deforested plot consti- sardines, meat compositions or salty fish dressed with tuted the first step toward claiming it. oil and vinegar or with the typical “mojo” (a sauce The “feast of Saint Martín” (11 November) is the made with Capsicum annun) to which they give a day chosen to drink the new wine and on Tenerife it is sweeter taste. They are also smashed into a puree, accompanied by the consumption of chestnut fruits. either to accompany a dish or as a filling for dishes The night before this feast, children dragged empty oil prepared in the oven mixed with dry fruits (crushed tins, “cacharros”, in the air which are open at the top pine nuts or almonds), spices and herbs or even previ- and filled with chestnuts and coals. ously fried giblets, adding a special flavour. In addi- With an evident sense of humour, the Old People’s tion, they are a typical side dish for wild game (Iglesias Association in the village of San Juan de Puntallana García, 2004), or as an ingredient in sweet CI bloody organise a contest a few days after “Saint Martín”, sausages. coinciding with the time of the chestnut harvest, to Chestnuts may be consumed in a broth in the typi- nominate the Queen of Chestnuts, the Big Chestnut, the cal “caldo de castañas” (chestnut soup), cooked with Small Chestnut and the Nice Chestnut. Women partici- potatoes or sweet potatoes, offering consistency and pate in the contest by bringing chestnuts collected by nutritive value which is much appreciated on cold win- themselves or by their husbands. The woman that pre- ter days (Ríos-Mesa, 2004; Pereira-Lorenzo et al., sents the biggest one is nominated as the Queen of 2007). Chestnuts, and similarly for the smaller or nicer fruits. In addition, the chestnut has erotic relevance on this island as it is used to refer to the female sexual organ (Pereira-Lorenzo et al., 2007). On the Island of El Hierro chestnuts have lost their traditional importance as food during autumn and win- ter except at the “Feast of All Saints”, when chestnut fruits are used as tafeñas (local chestnut grill) and consumed with new wine. In the past chestnuts were dried in the sun and used as ingredients for the preparation of “morcillas” (blood sausages), a local product still prepared on other islands. These morcillas were used by the inhabitants of the “El Golfo” county as exchange for dry figs or potatoes coming from other counties of the island (Gil-González 1998). The use of chestnuts on the island of La Gomera must have been similar to that of other islands, but in addition chestnut wood is used for making chácaras, a musical percussion instrument similar to the Spanish castañuelas (Perera-López, 2005) (Note that chestnut in Spanish is castaño.) As indicated above, the consumption of chestnut fruits is very common on the CI where they have been an important source of calories since soon after the Spanish conquest of the islands. They are not normally consumed raw, except occasionally when they are very soft, but generally boiled or roasted (Fig. 9). Boiling is generally done after making a cut in the external shell or after eliminating it. They are cooked for half an hour in plenty of water to which anise, vanilla sticks or cin- namon is added, particularly when used for desserts (Iglesias García, 2004). They are usually roasted in homes by putting them (after making a cut in the external shell) in a perforated biscuit tin which is then put directly on the kitchen fire. Chestnuts are traditionally Fig. 9 - Traditional chestnut roaster.

96 Chestnuts boiled with vanilla sticks are mixed, after DU CANE F., 1993 - Las Islas Canarias. - Viceconsejería de Cul- removing all the skin, with syrup and eaten or ground tura y Deportes. Gobierno de Canarias. Santa Cruz de Teneri- fe, Spain. as a filling for various sweets and cakes. One of the ELORRIETA J., 1949 - El castaño en España. - MAPA, Madrid, older recipes for these fillings includes ground chest- Spain. nuts in addition to sugar, milk and beaten egg yolks. FRUTUOSO G., 2004 - Descripción de las Islas Canarias, Capí- The mixture is cooked on a very slow fire for a few tulo IX al XX del Libro I de Saudades de Terra. - Centro de la minutes, without allowing it boil. Chestnuts are also Cultura popular Canaria. Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain. GIL-GONZÁLEZ J., 1998 - Apuntes acerca de las especies y used as ingredients in stewed fruit preserves. For this variedades de plantas tradicionalmente cultivadas en las islas use chestnuts are boiled in abundant water, well de El Hierro inventariadas en virtud del primer objeto del pro- cleaned to eliminate any remaining skin and then plen- yecto “Inventario, Recolección, Conservación, Multiplicación, ty of sugar is added along with anise, mint or hortelan y Evaluación de las Especies y Variedades de Plantas Cultiva- (Menta spitaca) and a glass of orange liquor or brandy. das Tradicionalmente en la isla de El Hierro”. - Valverde. El When the chestnuts become soft and thick, a syrup is Hierro. GLASS G., 1982 - Descripción de las Islas Canarias 1764. - Ins- formed; they are kept well covered in the syrup in tituto de Estudios Canarios y Goya Ediciones, Santa Cruz de sealed jars in a dry place (Iglesias, 2004). Tenerife, Spain. HERNÁNDEZ GONZÁLEZ, J.Z., RÍOS-MESA, D.J., CELORRIO DORTA G., 2010 - El Castañero en Tenerife. 6. Future prospects Estudio de la situación del cultivo mediante el uso de sistemas de información geográfica. - CCBAT, Cabildo de Tenerife, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain. Technical meetings have been organised since 2003 HERNÁNDEZ-MARTÍN, L.A., 1999 - Protocolos de Domingo at La Matanza Municipality on the Island of Tenerife Pérez, escribano público de la Palma (1546-1553). - Servicio with the assistance of the Centre for Conservation of de publicaciones de la Caja General de Ahorros de Canarias, Crop Biodiversity of Tenerife (CCBAT) and the Exten- Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain. HERNÁNDEZ-RODRÍGUEZ G., 1983 - Estadísticas de las Islas sion Service. Lectures by national and international Canarias, 1793-1806, de Francisco Escolar y Serrano. - CIES. experts have been given to include horticultural aspects Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain. such as pruning and training, marketing and prepara- IGLESIAS GARCÍA M., 2004 - La Castaña, rescatada de un tion of chestnut products as well as economical and inmerecido olvido, pp. 36-40. - In: Cabildo Insular de Tenerife, structural aspects and many other subjects dealing with Area de Aguas, Agricultura, Ganadería y Pesca, Servicio Téc- chestnut cultivation on Tenerife. nico de Agricultura y Desarrollo Rural (ed.) Cocinando con castañas de Tenerife. 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